Viktor - a haunted spy

In the early 1980s the world was on the brink of a nuclear Armageddon. Trust between the USA and the Soviet Union was at an all-time low, suspicion and fear ruled as each side believed that the other was planning an imminent attack. Against this background Viktor Gumnov, a KGB officer, is sent with his family on a secret mission to Washington charged with the task of finding a way in which the Soviet Union could win such a war.

While there Viktor comes to the conclusion that if the American people could be provoked into mass panic, it would be possible to initiate a series of manufactured natural disaster to take out most key parts of the eastern United Staes.

Despite planning America’s defeat, his fear that a forthcoming NATO exercise would be seen by Moscow as cover for a genuine attack prompts Viktor to try to get a vital message to the Soviet leadership. He emphasises that his well-placed contacts insist that the NATO exercise is just that, not cover for the real thing. Moscow is sceptical but the world survives.

Based on a true story, this is a tale of high-stakes espionage as it really happened, and of how a potential global catastrophe was averted. It is a human story of courage and ingenuity, and a quest for understanding.

Author Biography

Jo Calman arrived late in literary world, having spent most of his working life as a police detective and criminal intelligence officer; He travelled widely and experienced situations that most people can only imagine, especially when he further worked as a risk manager for a major global corporation before becoming a mediator. It was only in 2020 he finally realised his ambition to write novels.